The World Bank announced Dartmouth President Jim Yong Kim '82, a physician and public health expert whose nomination marked a departure from the traditional selection of candidates in politics and finance, as its next leader Monday. Kim was an unconventional choice for the position given his medical background, but some observers of the process called him a good candidate to move the bank in a new direction.
Under an informal agreement, the United States generally selects the World Bank president, while European countries choose the head of the International Monetary Fund. This year, though, Kim's nomination faced two challengers - Nigerian finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and former Colombian finance minister Jose Antonio Ocampo - amid concern that the U.S. had too much control in the selection process. Ocampo dropped out of the race last week, but many African countries rallied around Okonjo-Iweala as a better voice for representing developing countries.
Kim is the first Ivy League president of Asian descent and has served at Dartmouth's helm since 2009. His tenure has been marked by rocky relations with the campus community. In the wake of a fraternity hazing scandal this semester and increased numbers of reported sexual assaults, Kim was largely silent. The Dartmouth reported that many students felt Kim focused on boosting Dartmouth's public image at the expense of internal matters. Dartmouth's Board of Trustees will announce an interim president today and the head of the presidential search committee Thursday, the Dartmouth reported Monday.
In the month since his nomination, Kim traveled to many African, Latin American and Asian nations as part of a global "listening tour," which observers said was intended to bolster his credentials among developing countries critical of the nomination. Kim's past work, such as co-founding the nonprofit Partners in Health and working at the World Health Organization, has often focused on development in these areas.
Kim told the New York Times last week that he saw South Korea, where he was born, as an exemplar of rapid modernization and strong economic growth. "What I bring to the bank - which is a very special bank - is this unshakable optimism that countries can go down the same path I saw Korea go down," he said. "There's no one-size-fits-all solution, but every country can do it."
Terrie Wetle, associate dean of medicine for public health and public policy, said she applauded Kim's selection as an innovative and important step for the World Bank. "I think he's a fabulous choice, and as someone who's spent my professional career in public health, it's so exciting to have a director of the bank who understands the intimate relationship between health and well-being and the economics of countries," she said.
Wetle said others in her field were eager to see Kim effect change on a global financial level. "There's huge excitement because we see such an opportunity to use the vast resources of the World Bank to address really difficult but important population health questions," she said, adding that Kim is "just a really nice and funny guy."
